Lincoln & Herndon

[L Verge]

What might the ring (such a ring) have cost in those days? (Your estimates?)

I finally found a chart that gives the price of one ounce of gold through the 1800s to 2010. In 1840, one ounce was worth $21. How many ounces would it take to make a lady's ring? $21 stayed pretty much steady until 1865 when it went up to $30 and then back down to $21 and steady again until 1935, when it rose to $35 and kept on going up. In 2010, the last year given, one ounce was $1410. The U.S. seems to set the gold standard.

I also found reference to Queen Victoria having one of the first Victorian engagement rings. It sounds dreadful - a serpent with an emerald eye. The serpent represents wisdom and eternity, and the emerald was Victoria's birthstone. It was not until the late-1800s that diamond engagement rings became popular. If a woman received a ring, it was usually her birthstone. BTW: Victoria and Albert were married in 1840, just two years ahead of Abraham and Mary -- and the same year as John and Mary Surratt.

The serpent engagement ring reminded me of my daughter's fiance who had every intention of designing a ring for her with two porpoise heads attached by a single diamond. She did manage to talk him out of that.